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WCC Reads: Thomas Cahill’s The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels
October 6, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
The congregation is encouraged to read and discuss Thomas Cahill’s The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels, Random House, 1998.
Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, takes readers on another enchanting journey into history. With compelling stories, insights, and humor, The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative with a triumphant conclusion.
From this insight came a new conception of men and women as individuals with unique destinies – a concept that would inform the Declaration of Independence and our hopeful sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As Cahill narrates this momentous shift, he also explains the significance of biblical figures such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Pharaoh, Joshua, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
We will offer opportunities to discuss The Gifts of the Jews on the four Wednesdays in October: the 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, 1:00-2:15 p.m. Each session will discuss a different part of the book. You do not need to attend all four sessions. The first session will cover the introduction and chapters one and two (through page 90). Join us in person in the Centennial Room or online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85985725676, meeting ID: 859 8572 5676. You can also call in: (312) 626-6799.
Obtain the book as you wish.
Questions: Pastor Jeffrey Phillips, office (847) 999-9403, cell (847) 636-6111